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Pol Pot
Pol Pot (born Saloth Sar, May 19th, 1925 – April 15th, 1998) was the Prime Minister of Cambodia (which he called Democratic Kampuchea) from 1975 to 1979, during which he imposed a totalitarian dictatorship upon his country and essentially enslaved his entire country during his brief tenure. He achieved this through evacuating the entire population of Cambodia's cities to the countryside at gunpoint, where his followers, known as the Khmer Rouge, forced the people to work extremely hard labor. A Marxist-Leninist who patterned himself after Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, Pol Pot's goal was to turn Cambodia into a socialist, agrarian state, but his brand of socialism was considered far too extreme even by the standards of most of the other communist governments of the Cold War era. Pol Pot is the only man in all of history to order official genocide against his entire country (the Cambodian Genocide) and declared that money, personal possession and religion as a whole was banned. Due to the poor working conditions attributed during his regime it is estimated that he is responsible for the death of up to 25% of Cambodia's entire population, which would amount to an estimate of 2,000,000, however the exact number of deaths attributable to his tenure as Prime Minister of Cambodia is still a subject of debate. Early Life Pol Pot was born Saloth Sar on May 19th, 1925 in the small fishing village of Prek Sbauv with a population of only a few people. At a young age, he was sent to train as a Buddhist monk in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh which had a somewhat multicultural background that consisted of various other Asian groups, which he resented. His reign is often characterized for its harsh persecution of various Asian groups, most notably and infamously, towards the Vietnamese. From 1949 to 1953, he studied electronics at EFREI in Paris and after being ultimately unsuccessful in his pursuit to obtain such a degree, would return to Cambodia later that year. It was in Paris that he met many of his closest advisors, including Ieng Sary and Khieu Samphan. Leadership He became associated with the Communist Party of Kampuchea upon his return and later obtained the title of general secretary, where he became a close ally of exiled head of state Norodom Sihanouk. In 1968, he established the Khmer Rogue, which promoted his view of extreme communism as well as Cambodian nationalism. The Khmer Rogue invaded Phnom Penh on April 17th, 1975 and evacuated city residents to the countryside; this was done to make the urban dwellers work on collective farms and participate in forced labor project. Pol Pot called this his idea of a "purified utopia" were Cambodian society would be transformed into an extreme form of peasant communism. Following the Khmer Rogue's assent in Phnom Penh he became the de facto leader of the country by default. His reason for evacuating the population to the countryside was to take advantage of Cambodia's thriving agricultural background. His regime was heavily supported by Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China, as well as the Việt Cộng and the Pathet Lao. His reign targeted many specific groups of people, mainly the disabled, the elderly and pregnant women as he thought they could contribute nothing of any significance to his regime. Initially, these specific groups of people were forced to work extremely hard labor in concentration camps, and those who became exhausted or fell ill due to this were immediately executed due to the attributed policies he had instigated during his regime. People who wore glasses were executed during his regime, although the reason for this in unverifiable, this is likely as he thought their limited eye site would not contribute his regime to the fullest potential. He also had a resentment to those of an educated background, and also towards intellectual people. He was militantly against immigration and other ethnic groups that resided in Cambodia during his dictatorship were perhaps the most infamous target for persecution. In particular, his hatred towards the Vietnamese which journalist Nate Thayer, who was a significant factor in the trial of Pol Pot, referred to as "psychotic". Anyone who was originally from Vietnam, could speak Vietnamese, was married to a Vietnamese person, were of Vietnamese descent or even so much as resembled Vietnamese were immediately executed. Pol Pot holds the distinction for being the only person in history to order official genocide against his own country. Many deaths could be attributed to the poor working conditions and significant malnutrition, many were found eating dead human flesh and drinking their own urine in order to avoid starvation. It is estimated his regime totaled in the deaths of 25% of Cambodian's entire population which was largely due to the genocide and it could also be argued that a great number of deaths were caused as a result of the poor working conditions. Victims of both the Cambodian genocide and starvation were buried in what came to be known as the killing fields, in recent years further, previously unearthed killing fields have been discovered. Pol Pot's leadership and Khmer Rogue regime additionally resulted in sending Cambodia back 200 years. Downfall When in power, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge forces invaded Vietnam, which resulted in Vietnam coming into Cambodian territory. They succeeded in removing Pol Pot from power in January 1979, however he remained the leader of the Khmer Rouge until at least 1993, when he lost majority control to his former chief general, Ta Mok. He lost more power when several of his chief advisors, including Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary, surrendered themselves to the Cambodian government, ultimately receiving immunity from Prime Minister Hun Sen, himself a former Khmer Rouge cadre. Fearing that they would turn him over, Pol Pot fled into the forests along Cambodia's border with Thailand. Final years He remained in a power struggle with Ta Mok over majority control of the Khmer Rouge for a few years, ordering the murder of Son Sen in 1997 due to his belief that he was planning to betray him. This ultimately lead to Ta Mok's faction of the Khmer Rouge arresting him and placing him under lifelong house arrest. Nate Thayer became the second journalist from the West to interview the tyrannical dictator in October 1997, while he was under house arrest. During the interview he showed aggression whenever challenged by Thayer and would often attempt to justify his inept actions during his brutal four year reign. Ta Mok agreed to turn Pol Pot over to an international tribunal in 1998 to stand trial for crimes he committed during his rule of Cambodia. He died from heart failure on April 15th, 1998 at the age of 72. Many, including Nate Thayer, believed his death was a drug related suicide as he was fearful of being convicted of his heinous crimes. Trivia *He was originally born Saloth Sar, but changed it officially to Pol Pot in July 1970. The author of Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare has suggested his name change was due to it deriving from pol: "the Pols were royal slaves, an aboriginal people", and that "Pot" was simply a "euphonic monosyllable" that he liked. *The punk rock band Dead Kennedys' hit song "Holiday in Cambodia" is about Pol Pot and his oppressive reign. *Enver Hoxha, the communist ruler of Albania and considered one of the most brutal communist dictators, was a harsh critic of Pol Pot's regime, calling him "bloodthirsty" and describing his treatment of his people as "disgusting" and "inhumane". *During his political career, he used a wide array of pseudonyms: Pouk, Hay, Pol, 87, Grand-Uncle, Elder Brother, First Brother and in later years he used the pseudonyms 99 and Phem. He told a secretary that "the more often you change your name the better. It confuses the enemy" Gallery Polpot villains wiki.jpg Pol Pot.jpg|Pol Pot in 1978 Pol Pot 1997.jpg|Pol Pot in the last days of his life. 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